3February2016

7 in 10 older
hearing loss

Australians

have

But the staff of age care service providers and in hospitals are
seldom adequately trained to assist. An effective hearing
assistance program benefits staff as well as those they care
for and if performed systematically should not be time
consuming.

Lip reading
The words pat, bat, and mat might sound different when said
out aloud, but would you be able to tell them apart if there
was no sound? Meet the people who can thanks to lipreading classes led by Better Hearing Australia.

Paying attention to noise

Millions of years of evolution have allowed the development
of an extremely sophisticated human auditory system.
However our hearing system is not prepared to deal with the
large amount of noise and high-level sounds to which many
of us are exposed, both in leisure and work activities.

National Disability Insurance Scheme

Community consultations now open.

Conference for parents

Registrations open to attend the Aussie Deaf Kids conference
in Melbourne in March.
We acknowledge the traditional owners of country throughout Australia, and their
continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to them
and their cultures, and to elders both past and present. We acknowledge the
challenge that faces Indigenous leaders and families to overcome the unacceptably
high levels of ear health issues among first Australians.

Lip-reading teacher Sue Daw with class members David Urquhart and Linda Dwyer. By
Clare Colley, reporter at The Canberra Times. Photo: Graham Tidy
The words pat, bat, and mat might sound different when said out aloud, but
would you be able to tell them apart if there was no sound?
Meet the people who can thanks to lip-reading classes led by Better Hearing Australia.
Class member Linda Dwyer said she wouldn't still be working if it wasn't for the classes she
started attending six years ago when she was exploring hearing aids.
"I mostly noticed I couldn't hear my young daughter," she said.
"I was struggling in a social situation; I was almost sitting on people's laps to hear what
they were saying it was embarrassing."
BHA's Canberra secretary and aural rehabilitation teacher Sue Daw, who leads the weekly
sessions along with other volunteers, said each class focuses on one lip movement such as
'F' or 'V' with an explanation of how the speech movement is formed on the lips.
The group then practices words starting with the consonants and makes up short sentences
about a specific subject.
Each class member then takes it in turn to mouth the sentence while the rest of the class
writes down the words they can lip-read.

"Speech has evolved for hearing, not for lip-reading and because so many speech
movements look similar it's a matter of being aware of that," Mrs Daw said. "This is a real
survival skill."
Each letter has a different frequency and with every person's hearing loss unique lipreading can help people the pick up the gaps in words they aren't able to hear.
Another class member David Urquhart said lip-reading skills were essential in places with a
lot of background noise like restaurants.
"If you watch people's lips and you know the context you pick up a lot more," he said. "If
you're trying to lip-read and someone changes the topic you're often lost."
He initially went to the classes to support his wife Betty who is deaf in one ear, but found
the classes useful for his own hearing loss as well as giving him a better understanding of
his wife's condition.
Mrs Daw has had hearing loss all her life, but coming to terms with hearing loss later in life
can be an isolating experience. Often people with hearing loss have been lip-reading
without knowing it.
Ms Dwyer said she now plans to become a lip-reading teacher herself.
"Without the lessons I wouldn't be as confident especially for working," she said. "I was
always scared that people will treat me as not as intelligent. Unlike wearing glasses,
hearing aids don't provide an instant change, and can initially be difficult to adjust to
requiring much fine-tuning.
Admitting to have hearing loss can also be difficult, and while all three say the stigma was
improving, there was still a way to go to educate people about how to speak to someone
with hearing loss.
"Our classes are really the only place where people with a hearing loss can get together
and all talk about it," Mrs Daw said.
"You're always scared you're going to be rejected but once they say 'I've got a hearing
loss' and the group accepts that then you can go forward."
"It makes you a better listener because you're actually concentrating on what the person is
saying which is almost a contradiction..
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/learn-to-lipread-with-better-hearing-australiaclasses-20160120-gm9vxm.html#ixzz3yyBmEar1

Sound deprivation leads to irreversible hearing loss

Eye and Ear investigators in the U.S. have shown that sound deprivation in adult mice
causes irreversible damage to the inner ear. The findings, published in PLOS ONE, suggest
that chronic conductive hearing loss, such as that caused by earwax blockage, otitis media
(ear infections) and otosclerosis leads to permanent hearing impairment if untreated.
Sound waves travel through the ear canal before reaching the eardrum and the tiny bones
of the middle ear. They are then converted into electrical signals within the inner ear and
transmitted to the brain by the auditory nerve. Conductive hearing loss occurs when sound
transmission from the ear canal to the inner ear is impaired. It causes a reduction in sound
level and an inability to hear soft sounds.
In this study, a team of researchers led by Stephane F. Maison, Ph.D., investigator in the
Eaton-Peabody Laboratories at Mass. Eye and Ear and assistant professor of otolaryngology
at Harvard Medical School, followed the inner ear changes in a group of mice with chronic
conductive hearing loss in one ear.
"After a year of sound deprivation, we observed dramatic changes in the inner ear -notably, a significant loss of the synaptic connections through which the sensory cells send
their electrical signals to the brain," Dr. Maison said. "Although there have been many
studies of acoustic deprivation on the auditory system, few have looked at adult-onset
deprivation, and none, to our knowledge, has documented changes in the inner ear."
"Although these conditions are routinely treated in industrial societies, a number of patients
choose not to receive treatment, particularly when their medical condition affects only one
ear," Dr. Maison said.
Science Daily, http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/11/151118180507.htm

Paying attention to noise

Did you know that noise exposure may affect your quality of hearing, even if no hearing
loss is measurable? Millions of years of evolution have allowed the development of an
extremely sophisticated human auditory system. However our hearing system is not
prepared to deal with the large amount of noise and high-level sounds to which many of us
are exposed, both in leisure and work activities. Just to mention a few examples, the
sound of a crowded city may reach 85 dB sound pressure level, an ambulance siren is
about 120 dB, musicians who rehearse with amplified music or workers in a nightclub are
usually exposed during long hours to sounds greater than 90 dB, and hunters or soldiers,
place a noise source of more than 150 dB peak levels just next to their ears.
Day after day, week after week, exposure to noise leads to a progressive hearing loss, of
which many people remain unaware until the damage is well advanced. The noise-induced
hearing loss may be caused either by impulse high-level sounds or by the constant
exposure to noise. Recent animal studies have shown that noise exposure, even as short
as 2 hours, can affect the auditory nerve fibres that convey high-level sounds to the brain.
These particular fibres are important in challenging daily activities like listening in noise.
The loss of these fibres inevitably leads to a loss of quality of hearing, and very often, the
perception of a buzzing or ringing sound called tinnitus. However, their loss has no effect
on our ability to hear very soft sounds, and hence the damage is not measurable as a
hearing loss using a standard hearing test.
The diagnosis of noise-induced hearing damage is not, therefore, an easy task. There is no
available clinical test able to evaluate the damage to these nerve fibres, so people may
have these hearing problems without being diagnosed. A team of researchers at the
National Acoustic Laboratories is currently investigating this pathology in Australian society,
its effects on daily life, and designing new strategies that will eventually be useful in
diagnosing what is nowadays called hidden hearing loss.
It is important to bear in mind that there is no cure for hidden hearing loss, and the
treatment can be difficult even with the most advanced hearing aid. The key is prevention,
and being aware of the potentially damaging effects of loud noise, even for relatively short
durations, is the first step.
If you are an adult aged 30-55, particularly if youve had some exposure to noise, you can
be part of the study in Sydney. Email prevention@nal.gov.au

http://www.nal.gov.au/

Parents' conference

Sunday 6 March 2016, 9am - 5pm (Registration commences at 8.30am)

Victorian Deaf Education Institute, 597 St Kilda Road Melbourne
The first session will look at the National Disability Insurance Scheme as well as the
transition of the Hearing Services Program to the NDIS. Parents will learn from the people
implementing these changes - Bruce Bonyhady AM, Chair of the National Disability Agency,
and Tracey Duffy, National Manager of the Office of Hearing Services. Mark Wyburn, a
committee member of Parents of Deaf Children and a parent living in a NDIS trial site, will
provide insights into what these changes will mean to children who are DHH and their
families.
The next session will look at education. Dr Jill Duncan, Director of the Victorian Deaf
Education Institute, is at the forefront of bringing emerging evidence from research into the
classroom.
The National Disability Insurance Scheme and its possibilities for education require that
parents make good decisions on their childs behalf. Ann Porter AM, founder and CEO of
Aussie Deaf Kids, will present her current PhD research into how parents make informed
decisions. She will discuss the decision-making strategies that benefit the child, family, and
parents themselves.
The afternoon session features the mental well-being of all family members. Kate
Greenhalgh, a psychologist, will present her current PhD research into mindfulness and
what parents of children who are DHH can do for their own mental well-being. Paula
Zalcberg, a teacher of the deaf and family counsellor, will discuss the well-being of the
family as a whole, particularly the siblings. Paul Jacobs, author and researcher, will then
talk about his books and research on healthy living with deafness.
The day will conclude with a panel of young people sharing their experiences. This will be
a unique opportunity for parents to hear other stories.
Places are strictly limited. Book early to avoid disappointment.
http://www.deafeducation.vic.edu.au/News-Events/Pages/Aussie-Deaf-Kids-Parents'Conference.aspx

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The National Disability Insurance Agency writes:

The Agency is now accepting written feedback on key elements of the ILC Commissioning
Framework.
At the end of last year we released a consultation draft of the ILC Commissioning
Framework. The Framework outlines how the Agency will fund and manage information,
linkage and capacity building (ILC) activities in the future.
Before we finish the Framework, we would like to talk more with people with disability,
their families and carers as well as people who work in the sector about some key parts of
the Framework.
There are two ways people can provide feedback on the consultation draft of the ILC
Commissioning Framework:
You can make a written submission
You can attend a face-to-face consultation session in some locations
The Agency is now calling for written feedback covering the issues we would like to hear
more about.
Organisations and individuals that would like to provide feedback can do so by using the
ILC written feedback document to email ILC mailbox ILC@ndisgov.au . Written feedback
that uses the ILC written feedback document will be accepted up until 5pm Friday the 15th
of April 2016. Download the document at http://www.ndis.gov.au/sites/default/files/ILCfeedback_0.docx
The Agency will shortly put more information on the NDIS website outlining the schedule
for face-to-face consultations. We will hold separate sessions for:
People with disability, families and carers
Organisations that provide ILC-type activities
Consultation sessions will be held in the following locations: Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra,
Hobart, Melbourne, Sydney, Townsville and a regional location in NSW (TBA).
You may answer one question or all of the questions. We want to hear from as many
people as possible.
Kind regards,
Information, Linkages and Capacity Building Team
National Disability Insurance Agency

Training resources in hearing assistance for

nurses and other care staff in aged care services
and hospitals
7 in 10 older Australians have hearing loss, but the staff of age care service providers and
in hospitals are seldom adequately trained to assist. An effective hearing assistance
program benefits staff as well as those they care for and if performed systematically should
not be time consuming.
These free resources may also be useful for carers and volunteers who assist hearing
impaired people in the community.

Instructional video designed to fit within a 30 minute in-service session for staff. The
video, created with funding by Cochlear Ltd opens with residents talking frankly about their
experience of hearing loss together with a brief explanation of the impacts they describe.
This leads on to effective ways of speaking to someone with a hearing loss and then to a
thorough demonstration of the skills needed to manage and trouble shoot hearing aids.

View the video on Youtube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=O15xOkOkFVQ&feature

Download the video on Vimeo by selecting the download arrow icon beneath the
video image: https://vimeo.com/151896540

Deafness Forum Ltd 2013. Deafness Forum Ltd assigns the right to another party to use the video for
educational and training activities but retains all other rights. Reproduction/use for commercial purposes
requires prior written permission.

A Training Pack that includes a questionnaire to reinforce learning from the video and/or to
assess understanding of core hearing assistance skills. It also contains prompt cards which
may aid on-the-job performance.

The Good Practice Guide provides additional reference material and suggestions for
establishing an effective hearing assistance program.

Teaching-learning modules suitable for pre-service education and training and also for
continuous professional development purposes for relevant staff.
Access the free resources at http://www.deafnessforum.org.au/index.php/publications/112uncategorised/240-never-too-late-to-hear-better

Advertisement
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Experiences of students with disability

National not for profit organisation Children With Disability Australia has released a
landmark issues paper, Post school transition: The experiences of students with disability.
This report is based on the direct experience of young people with disability. It highlights
key issues from current research, legislation and consultation with key stakeholders. It
concludes with recommendations for improving outcomes and options for post school
transition of students with disability.
The report can be downloaded at http://www.cda.org.au/post-school-transition

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